Henry Winkler thinks back to one of the first moments he met Robin Williams, and it's certainly memorable.
The actor recently appeared on Fake doctors, real friends with Zach and Donald podcast and recalled Williams' one Happy days auditioned for the role of Mork, an alien from the planet Ork who visits Earth, after the original actor left the show.
“When Robin came to the audition, it's now Wednesday. We start Monday morning at 10:00 on the stage. That is, at 9:00, we read. 10:00, we're on stage,” Winkler said. “Nobody wanted to play this alien from outer space.”
But then, “a young, very shy, very quiet man arrives with the casting director,” the Arrested development the alum recalled. And just like that, Williams shed his reserved persona and “then this human being took over the script. When he opened his mouth, it was like a volcano had erupted on stage 19 at Paramount,” Winkler added.
It was in that moment that Winkler knew how to “get out of the way, know my lines, and not try to stand toe-to-toe with this genius who is now in front of me.”
Williams, who died in 2014, made his debut as Mork in Season 5, Episode 22 of the beloved show, which ran from 1974 to 1984. In the episode, titled “My Favorite Orkan,” Richie (Ron Howard) is trying to convince everyone that he saw a flying saucer and was interviewed by an alien named Mork, who attempted to bring Richie to his home planet.
Happy dayscreated by Garry Marshall, focusing on teenager Richie Cunningham and his family living in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Winkler played bad boy Fonzie, who eventually becomes Richie's best friend.